I truly hate leaving negative reviews and rarely do it, but this was such a bad experience. In sum, the actual teachers are lovely; but the management is a nightmare.
I signed my 3 yr old daughter up for the preschool earliest level class. The other kids in the class were much older and much more experienced at swimming. My daughter was really terrified on Day 1 and i could just tell it was not the right environment for her -- it is really loud and really crowded, as they divide that small pool into A LOT of classes, so it's a tiny space with a ton of splashing. I asked on the very first day if we could cancel and just refund, as it was not the right fit. They refused and said they would provide extra staff on-deck to ensure that there were more teachers to help.
When we reluctantly returned for another class, there were no extra staff--zero--and the 1 very nice instructor who was there understandably struggled to manage the older, eager swimmers alongside my sobbing, very young daughter who clearly had no place in that group.
I returned to the office to ask, again, if we could do a refund since this clearly was not working. And, again, they refused. The truly weird part about the management at this pool is that they are exceptionally cold & defensive. When I asked if maybe there was a manager or supervisor I could speak to, they said they could not give out that information. You'd expect this kind of behavior from a sketchy used car dealership or a telephone scammer, not a kids' swim school! It was honestly just really weird.
I can only assume they are getting asked for refunds all the time, I'm not sure why else they are so hostile about it. My kids normally do swim at the JCC, which is incredibly spacious, with kind, understanding, and flexible people in charge--they are happy to credit you if the time or lesson is not working out for you! I had opted for Saguaro this time around, as the class time worked out better with my schedule, but I have now signed all the kids back up at the J and will never return to Saguaro. I have 3 little kids and have had nothing but positive experiences with sports, swim, and activities all around Tucson. People are always so flexible and understanding! But Saguaro Swim is just a really, *really* weird vibe. From what I can tell, the actual swim instructors are lovely & sweet; I just feel bad they have to deal with the odd situation with the management. Maybe they are going bankrupt or something, who knows. It was weird.
If they had refunded the swim lessons, I would have been appreciative and would have waited a bit to sign my daughter up soon, once she had some more pool experience, as the youngest class there was just not young enough. But instead, I'm profoundly unhappy and I think the parents of the kids who had to share their instructor with a much-younger toddler weren't too thrilled either. Not great long-term strategy by the Saguaro Swim management. read more